Survey: Mainers pessimistic about economy

PORTLAND — The Christmas shopping season started out on a positive note, but a new survey shows that Mainers remain pessimistic about the economy.

Market Decisions of Portland surveyed 400 people in October for its quarterly economic report that looks at Maine’s consumer sentiment and other economic indicators.

For the survey, which has a 5 percentage point margin of error, 49 percent of respondents said they’re worse off financially than a year ago, an increase of 6 percentage points since July. Only 18 percent said they’re better off.

The survey’s consumer sentiment index came in at 57.4, the lowest it’s been in three years.

Only 18 percent said they felt like the country will have good economic times in the next five years — the lowest that number’s been since July 2008.

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